Bruins Duck Boat Parade Set For Saturday Morning
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Bruins victory parade will be held Saturday morning at 11 a.m. on the traditional vehicle of Boston sports champions: duck boats.
Mayor Tom Menino said the rolling rally will start at the Garden, go through downtown and end in Copley Square.
Menino said Saturday was chosen by the Bruins because some of the players have commitments Friday.
"It's about the players, it's not about anybody else," Menino said.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports
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The duck boat parade will follow the same route as the Celtics' Rolling Rally in 2008. The team will leave the Garden and proceed down Causeway Street, to Staniford Street, before turning left onto Cambridge Street. Near Government Center, the Bruins parade route turns right onto Tremont Street, and then right onto Boylston just after the Boston Common. The parade route ends at Copley Square. There will be no scheduled stops along the way.
View: Map of Parade Route
WBZ-TV's Jonathan Elias reports.
"It's our turn. It is sweet, it's so sweet," Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters at a news conference with the mayor and Police Commissioner Ed Davis.
"You guys waited a long time for this and the fans certainly deserve this. We've got the best fans in the league," Neely said. "We're thrilled to be able to bring this back to Boston."
MBTA SERVICE FOR THE PARADE (info from the MBTA)
Subway
For the subway system, the MBTA will operate at near "rush hour" levels all day long, providing more frequent service before, during, and after the parade.
- Customers are urged to load value on their CharlieCard in advance to avoid long lines after the parade.
- MBTA employees in orange vests will be deployed throughout the transit system to assist customers who may have questions.
- Be advised that North Station will be extremely busy. The MBTA recommends that fans think about using other stations in the downtown area such as Haymarket, Government Center, Park Street and Downtown Crossing.
Commuter Rail
A plan to supplement commuter rail service is underway and will be provided tomorrow.
- Please know… A special round trip commuter rail ticket will be available for $10.00 and can be purchased starting Friday morning at South, North and Back Bay Station. Additionally, tickets will be sold on board the train.
Buses
- Due to the parade route, a number of bus routes including the: 9, 10, 39, 43, 55, 92, 93, and 504 will be detoured as necessary.
- Green line shuttle replacement service between North Station and Lechmere will be detoured as necessary.
- Bus customers are urged to go to mbta.com before their trip to get the most up to date bus service information.
PARADE RAFFLE
Further details are expected later today. If you can't make it to the parade, you can watch it live on CBSBoston.com.
The Bruins and the NHL are raffling off two spots for fans to ride with them in the parade.
The drawing will be at 8:15 p.m Thursday. You can buy tickets on the NHL Alumni Raffles web site. Proceeds will go to the Boston Bruins Foundation.
7 ARRESTS
Boston Police had a busy night after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, but there were no major incidents.
Photo Gallery: Bruins Win Game 7
Davis told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 only 7 people were arrested in the celebrations, most for disorderly conduct. Others were charged with assault and battery on a police officer and inciting a riot.
"We responded quickly to a couple of potential problems. At two points during the evening, the crowd tried to tip cars over. They tried to tip one of the MBTA buses over," Davis said.
Photo Gallery: Angry Fans Riot In Vancouver Streets
So was it a good idea to not have a viewing party at the Garden?
"I think it was the right decision," Davis said.
"We can handle anything, but we need sufficient time to plan for it and we didn't have that time in this particular case."
CBSBoston.com will carry the Bruins Stanley Cup Championship Parade live.
